Run by the founder of MedFriendly.com, the MedFriendly Medical Blog brings you up to date news, commentary, and perspectives on diverse healthcare topics, particularly those that are interesting or unusual. Click here for ADVERTISING information.

Leaderboard ad

Saturday, November 26, 2016

You've never associated cannabis with fitness. It is thought of by most as the anti-fitness drug, because the 'munchies' and weight loss don't go well together. It is being studied more as medical marijuana laws are loosening up and it is becoming completely legal in some places.

You might be shocked to hear this if you've dabbled with cannabis in the past, but it's now thought it can help you lose weight. In fact, it can help you drop those extra pounds in a number of different ways, which we're going to touch on now.

The Ability to Suppress Your Appetite

There is no denying cannabis stimulates your appetite, but even though it is not fully understood it can also suppress it. They do know it's got something to do with the CB1 receptor, which is found in cells throughout the human body. At the moment people use coffee and diet pills to suppress their appetite, but we all know consuming stimulants comes with side-effects. Is it possible cannabis could be used in the future to help people who can't resist eating too much food?

Lowering Your Body's Insulin Resistance

Insulin has a bad reputation, which happened to coincide with the popularity of low-carb diets. It is actually essential in order to keep you healthy, and when your body's insulin resistance levels are lower it will aid in fat loss. They've conducted a study in the US with nearly 5,000 people who consumed cannabis, and they found their insulin levels when in a fasted state were 16 percent lower than those who didn't touch the drug. On average, they also had a tighter waist than non-consumers too.

Improving Your Mood and Relieving Pain

In order to exercise in the first place, you need to feel motivated and free of pain. More exercise means more weight loss, and cannabis is the perfect solution to both of those problems. THC is the active ingredient in cannabis capable of delivering the results, and your body even releases cannabinoids on its own when you work out. Where do you think the runner's high comes from? But THC only stays in your blood for a few hours after you have finished exercising, so supplementing with it will prolong the effects.

Increasing The Metabolism of Fat Cells

Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) is another compound found in cannabis thought to help you lose fat quicker. It increases the metabolism of your fat cells, or at least we think it does. Up until now we've only seen results when testing on animals, plus there are only a few strains of the drug with enough THCV to see any measurable amounts of success in aiding fat loss. It is one of those benefits you would only really see if they did one day decide to prescribe cannabis specifically for people looking to lose weight.

For Informational Purposes only

The purpose of this article wasn't to glamorize cannabis. There are still tests being carried out on the drug every day, and there are negative side-effects to go along with the positive ones. You should also know there are hundreds of other things capable of helping you lose weight. It is still interesting to know the drug that supposedly made you lazy and hungry could one day be used to shed those extra pounds. It can also be used to help people gain weight, so it is one drug we know will help many people with a weight problem.